Trashing the trash

Spike tugged on a tire to wrest it from the silt of the San Francisco Bay. A television cameraman filming him put down the camera to help out and together they pulled, splashed and grunted until they broke the suction holding the tire firmly under the water near Meeker Slough in Richmond. It was hard work, and Spike — his full name is Steve Spiker — sliced his hand in the process. Finally he rolled the muck-filled tire onto his kayak to bring it back to land. Just one more piece of trash at the 26th Annual California Coastal Cleanup.

The Flotsam Flotilla sets off to collect garbage.

Thirteen hundred volunteers of all ages combed the coastline for litter at five sites throughout Contra Costa County on Saturday. A flotilla of kayakers plucked trash from areas not accessible by land.